A research led by researchers from the University of Barcelona (UB) and published on Nature Physics enables to establish a basic mechanism of collective of self-organization of cultured neuronal networks.

The human brain contains more synapses than there are galaxies in the observable universe (to put a number on it, there are perhaps 100 trillion synapses versus 100 billion galaxies), and now scientists can see them all – individually.

New research suggests concussion may not significantly impair symptoms or cognitive skills for one gender over another, however, women may still experience greater symptoms and poorer cognitive performance at preseason testing.

Abstract: A model of an Ant System where ants are controlled by a spiking neural circuit and a second order pheromone mechanism in a foraging task is presented. A neural circuit is trained for individual ants and subsequently the ants are exposed to a virtual environment where a swarm of ants performed a resource foraging task. The model comprises an associative and unsupervised learning strategy for the neural circuit of the ant. The neural circuit adapts to the environment by means of classical conditioning. The initially unknown environment includes different types of stimuli representing food (rewarding) and obstacles (harmful) which, when they come in direct contact with the ant, elicit a reflex response in the motor neural system of the ant: moving towards or away from the source of the stimulus. The spiking neural circuits of the ant is trained to identify food and obstacles and move towards the former and avoid the latter. The ants are released on a landscape with multiple food sources where one ant alone would have difficulty harvesting the landscape to maximum efficiency. In this case the introduction of a double pheromone mechanism (positive and negative reinforcement feedback) yields better results than traditional ant colony optimization strategies. Traditional ant systems include mainly a positive reinforcement pheromone. This approach uses a second pheromone that acts as a marker for forbidden paths (negative feedback). This blockade is not permanent and is controlled by the evaporation rate of the pheromones. The combined action of both pheromones acts as a collective stigmergic memory of the swarm, which reduces the search space of the problem. This paper explores how the adaptation and learning abilities observed in biologically inspired cognitive architectures is synergistically enhanced by swarm optimization strategies. The model portraits two forms of artificial intelligent behaviour: at the individual level the spiking neural network is the main controller and at the collective level the pheromone distribution is a map towards the solution emerged by the colony. The presented model is an important pedagogical tool as it is also an easy to use library that allows access to the spiking neural network paradigm from inside a Netlogo—a language used mostly in agent based modelling and experimentation with complex systems.

Can you empathize with those who work for you, around you and those you report to?

While many leaders, particularly those who might be labeled the ‘command and control’ type seem to think that empathy is a negative; I think that it is an important habit for any Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) or compliance practitioner to not only practice but also master.

Recently there were a couple of articles in the New York Times (NYT) that discussed this character trait and I found them useful to consider for the leadership toolkit of the CCO or compliance profession.

Empathy is the process that allows us to share the feelings and emotions of others, in the absence of any direct emotional stimulation to the self.

Humans can feel empathy for other people in a wide array of contexts: for basic emotions and sensation such as anger, fear, sadness, joy, pain and lust as well as for more complex emotions such as guilt, embarrassment and love.

It has been proposed that, for most people, empathy is the process that prevents us doing harm to others.

“Your physical ability changes over your lifetime. At first you can’t do much,” said Joshua Hartshorne, a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the study’s lead author. From infancy on, we get better at walking, jumping, climbing and running. But in our early 20s our physical abilities begin to decline, he said. Is such waxing and waning also true for mental ability? “There are two competing ideas,” he added. “As you get older you’re slowing down, and as you get older you’re getting wiser.”

Your physical ability changes over your lifetime. At first you can’t do much,” said Joshua Hartshorne, a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the study’s lead author. From infancy on, we get better at walking, jumping, climbing and running. But in our early 20s our physical abilities begin to decline, he said. Is such waxing and waning also true for mental ability? “There are two competing ideas,” he added. “As you get older you’re slowing down, and as you get older you’re getting wiser.”

Your physical ability changes over your lifetime. At first you can’t do much,” said Joshua Hartshorne, a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the study’s lead author. From infancy on, we get better at walking, jumping, climbing and running. But in our early 20s our physical abilities begin to decline, he said. Is such waxing and waning also true for mental ability? “There are two competing ideas,” he added. “As you get older you’re slowing down, and as you get older you’re getting wiser.”

Your physical ability changes over your lifetime. At first you can’t do much,” said Joshua Hartshorne, a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the study’s lead author. From infancy on, we get better at walking, jumping, climbing and running. But in our early 20s our physical abilities begin to decline, he said. Is such waxing and waning also true for mental ability? “There are two competing ideas,” he added. “As you get older you’re slowing down, and as you get older you’re getting wiser.”

How busy your social life is at age 20 -- and how solid the relationships are that you make when you're 30 -- are factors in your well-being later in life, according to research from the University of...

Hello Dear Reader,Today you find me on a train to lively Glasgow from my hometown of York: A long journey, nearly 4 hours in total. Plenty of time to get out of my work head and think about my lovely blog.

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